Van door with adjustable load-engaging plate structure



R. E. WEEKS May 5, 1959 VAN DOOR WITH ADJUSTABLE LOAD-ENGAGIIR? PLATESTRUCTURE Filed Sept. 12. 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BY ZPOYE Ma 5Ar r omvzy 5, 1959 R. E. WEEKS 2,885,221

VAN DOOR WITH ADJUSTABLE LOAD-ENGAGING PLATE STRUCTURE.

Filed Sept. 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 5 Qoyih f xa ATTORNEYSta esv P ten VAN DOOR ADJUSTABLE LOAD- ENGAGING PLATE STRUCTURE Thisinvention pertains to van doors and particularly to a van doorcomprising an adjustable load-engaging plate.

An object of the invention is to provide improved means for preventingshifting of the load in a closed van.

A specific object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, sturdyand readily adjustable mechanism, to be carried by the rear door of avan, operative to retain a plate adjustably in position against the loadin the van.

Another'specific object of the invention is to provide a mechanismoperable from the swinging edge of a van door for moving a plateforwardly into the van body against the rearward end of the loadtherein, which mechanism is thereafter automatically retained inposition against the load to prevent shifting thereof. The novelfeatures which are believed to be characteristic of this invention areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization andmethod of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by reference ,to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in

which: I Fig. 1 is a rear elevation, partially broken away, of the reardoors and other portions of the rear of a freight van, showing amechanism in accord with this invention'applied to the doors;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of Fig. 1 showing a doorand adjusting mechanism in accord with the invention, including a plateengaged against the load of the van;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of a'portion of oneof the doors of Fig. 1; p

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view showing a fragment of the door andadjusting mechanism on an enlarged scale;

. Fig.5 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showingdetails of a portion of the adjusting mechanism; and t Fig. 6 is a rearelevation, partially broken away, of the rear doors of a vanincorporating adjusting mechanism for a load-engageable plate, accordingto a modification of the invention.

As' seen in Figs. 1 and 2 the van body 1 is closed at its rearward end 2by a pair of doors 3 and 4 which are hinged, suchas by hinge 5, to thevan body. It will be understoodjthat each door 3 and 4 is substantiallyidentical, except that door 3 has a swinging inner edge portion 6 of itsouter covering plate or skin 7 overlapping the joint 8 which exists,when the doors are closed, at the centerrear of the van body between theinner edge frame members 9 and 10 of the respective doors, in accordwith the usual construction.

,"According to the invention, the bottom frame member 11 has attachedthereto three gear boxes 12, 13 and 14, and a shaft 15 extends betweenside edge frame members-9 and 16 of the door and through each of thegear boxes carrying,-within-the=- boxes, respective miter gears 17, 18and 19, each of which is fixed to the shaft for rotation therewith. Anend bearing 20 is provided for shaft 15 at door frame edge member 16,while a bearing, driving and locking arrangement 21, shown in detail inFig. 4 and hereafter described, is provided for the shaft at door framemember 9. A vertically extending shaft 22 extends into gear box 12,being provided with thrust collars 23 and 24 for retaining the shaftagainst vertical displacement with respect to the gear box, and theshaft carries at its lower end a miter gear 25 meshing with gear 17. Theupper end of shaft 22 is anchored in a suitable bearing member 26 which,in turn, is attached to cross frame member 27 of the door structure.Shaft 22 is threaded and carries an internally threaded collar 28thereon. Guide studs or posts, such as post 29, extend outwardly fromoppositesides of collar 28 and engage portions of upright door-framemembers, such as member 30 in a manner to prevent rotation or turning ofcollar 28 as will be better understood from the description hereinafterset forth.

A'pair of support arms or toggle bars 31 and 32, swingably mounted tocollar 28 on posts 29, and preferably held thereon by means of nuts,such as nut 33, depend from the collar and are pivotally attached, suchas by hinge assemblies 34 and 35, respectivelyyat the lower ends 36 and37 of the respective support arms, to

a movable plate 38. A substantially identical arrange ment includingexternally threaded shaft39 and collar 40 is identically associated withshaft 15 through gear 19, the arrangement being such that rotation ofshaft 15 causes, through gears 17 and 19, corresponding rotation ofshafts 22 and 39, and this rotation causes raising or lowering, inaccord with the direction of rotation of shaft 15, of the collars 28 and40. t

A third vertical shaft 41 is arranged approximately midway betweenshafts 22 and 39 and extends through out substantially the full heightof the door, being an chored by a bearing 42 to the upper frame member43 of the door. As shown in Fig. 2, an intermediate support for shaft 42is provided by a guide bearing 44 mounted on cross member 27 of the doorframe. Shaft 41 is externally threaded, and carries one internallythreaded collar 45 below cross member 27 and a second collar 46 abovethe cross member. The two last mentioned collars cooperate with shaft 41in the same manner in which collar 28 cooperates with shaft 22 land theyare otherwise arranged to correspond thereto with the exception thatsupport arms, or toggle bars 47 and 48, which are swingably connected tocollar 45, extend upwardly therefrom to hinge assemblies 49 and 50 whichconnect them to adjustable plate 38, collar 46 being similarly providedwith upstanding support arms or toggle bars 51 and 52 connected by hingeassemblies 53 and 54 to an upper portion, generally identified at 55, ofthe plate 38. The direction of the screw threads of shaft 41'is thereverse of the direction of the threads of shafts 22 and 39 and,accordingly, is such that when the main drive shaft 15 is rotated in adirection to lower collars 28 and 40, the collars 45 and 46 are screwedupwardly along shaft 41. Thus, in one direction of rotation of shaft 15,all four collars are caused to approach the level of the hingeattachments to plate 38 of their arms, while opposite rotation of theshaft 15 will cause each of the collars to move away from the level ofthe re-' spective hinge attachments to plate 38 of its respectivesupport arms. Each of the collars engaged on shaft41 comprises outwardlyextending posts, such as post 56 of collar 46, to retain the respectivecollar against rotation, the posts being engageable with the adjacentverti cal door frame member. Post 56, for example, is seen to beengageable with door frame member 57, while in Fig. 2,..post.29. .ofcollar 28 engagedlwithtflange Patented May 5, 1959 58 of frame member30, and in Fig. 3, post 59 of collar 40 is engaged with flange 60 ofdoor frame member 61. The posts freely slide along the vertical framemember flanges but serve to retain the collars against rotation ineither direction thus to prevent twisting stresses .on the hingeconnections, such as at 33, between the collars and the support arms,such as arm 32, when the shafts are being rotated. The posts 29, 56, 59being in engagement with flanges, such as flanges 58 and 60, of the doorframe, further add strength to the structure, preventing forces of thecargo against the plate 38 from bending the shafts which carry thecollars.

The arrangement as shown in Fig. 1, wherein six support arms or togglebars are connected to the plate below horizontal center frame member 27and wherein only two toggle bars are attached above this member, is suchas to provide greater strength toward the lower portions of the platewhere the force of the load against the plate, when the load tends toshift, is greater than toward the upper end of the plate.

Movement of plate 38 between its forward position against the load, asshown in full lines in Fig. 2 and its intermediate retracted positionshown in broken lines at 62, is accomplished by rotating shaft 15,rotation in one direction advancing the plate and rotation in the otherdirection retracting the plate toward the door frame. It will beapparent that further rotation of shaft 15 in the direction to retractthe plate will cause the plate 38 finally to lie flush against the doorframe members, such as against member 27. The plate 38 is shown in fulllines in Fig. 3 advanced only a short distance from its fully retractedposition.

Each vertical threaded shaft, such as shaft 22, carries at its lower enda bevel gear, and as shown in detail in Fig. 5, this gear 25, fixed toshaft 22 meshes with a cooperating bevel gear 17 fixed to shaft .15. Theshaft 15 has a bearing in each end wall, such as wall 66, of the gearhousing and shaft supporting structure 12.

The manner in which shaft 15 is rotated is best seen in Figs. 3 and 4. Asmall detachable crank or rotating handle 63 having a non-circular,preferably square shank 64 is engageable in the cooperating socket 64'of a hub 65, the hub or socket member 65 being rotatably carried inframe member 9 and socket 64 opening through the inner edge of door 3.The hub 65 is fixed to or com.- prises an extended end portion of shaft15, and the lockingdisc 21 is fixed to the shaft 15 immediately insideof door frame edge member 9. The .disc has a plurality of openings 67extending therethrough selectively alignable with an opening 68 throughmember 9, and a removable locking pin 69 is inserted through opening 68and into the selected one of openings 67 to lock disc 66, and thus tolock shaft 15, against rotation. Manual access finger grooves 70extending into opening 68 may be formed in member 9 to permit pin 69 tobe removed when it is desired to unlock disc 66, and a small knobportion 71 may be provided on the pin further to facilitate manualremoval.

A van body is loaded by stacking the boxes, bags or other cargoindicated at 72 against the forward end of the van and progressivelyfilling the van toward the rear. Finally a point is reached when anotherrow of the cargo elements will not fit. Such a point has been reached inthe case shown in Fig. 2, wherein another row of bags or boxes could notbe stacked behind the load as shown without interfering with the closingof the doors. In accord with this invention, the door 3 is closed, withdoor 4 open, pin 69 is removed from opening 68 in door 3 to unlock theshaft .15 of door 3, handle 63 is engaged with ,hub 65 and rotatedsufliciently, and in the proper direction, to move the collars alongshafts 22 41 and 39 far enough to advance plate 38 into position firmlyagainst the load .as shown in full lines in Fig. ,2. The pin 69 :is thenset to retain shaft 15 of door 3 against rotation, and handle .63 isremoved. Door 3 :is ;next swung open, and door 4 is closed and its plate73, which corresponds to, and is preferably identical to, plate 38, isadjusted and finally locked in the same manner, preferably using thesame handle 63 and an identical pin (not shown). With plate 73 nowengaging the cargo, door 3 is again swung into closed position, itsplate 38 again engaging the load because of its previous adjustment. Thedoors are finally locked shut in any convenient desired manner.

Since the socket of each door, such as socket 64', opens through theinner edge of the door, it faces the inner edge of the other door whenthe doors are closed, each socket being thus covered by the inner edgeof the other door. Accordingly, when the doors are shut, the sockets arenot accessible to unauthorized persons. The locking pin, such as pin 69,which enters the inner edge of each door, is similarly guarded againstunauthorized removal and is held against accidental loss or displacementby the presence of the inner edge .of the other door when the doors areclosed to bring the respective inner edges into juxtaposition.

A modified construction is shown in Fig. 6, wherein each of the doors 75and 76 carries a respective movable one of plates 77 and 78. Thismodification being particularly adapted for lighter cargoes, only onevertical threaded shaft, such as shaft 79, is provided for each door,and this one shaft has two internally threaded sleeves or collarsthereon. The upper portion .80 of the shaft engaged by sleeve 81 isthreaded in one direction and has support legs 82 hinged thereto anddiverging up.- wardly therefrom, while the lower portion 83 is reverselythreaded and its collar 84 is hinged to downwardly diverging supportlegs 85. Legs 82 and 85, as in the previous embodiment, are all of thesame length and each is hinged by a respective hinge, such as hinge 86,,to the movable plate 77. Rotation of shaft 79 in one direction causesthe collar 81 to rise and the collar 84 .to be lowered thereby to moveplate 77 away from the frame 87 of door 75, while opposite rotationretracts the plate toward the frame. Rotation of shaft 79 isaccomplished through gears 88 and a drive shaft 89, corresponding to thesimilar elements of the previous embodiment. Edge frame member 90rotatably supports shaft 89 at one end, while the other end has abearing in gear box 91. A locking disc 92 on shaft 89 permits lockingthe shaft 89 against rotation as in the previously described embodiment.,It has been found convenient in the embodiment shown in Fig. 6 toterminate the drive shaft 89 at an end 93 adjacent gear box 91, ratherthan extending the drive shaft completely across the door frame,although the construction of Figs. l-S, wherein shaft 15 extends thefull width of the door frame, provides a stronger overall construction.

As in the previous embodiment, each sleeve carries two outwardlyextending guide posts, such as posts 94 and 95 of sleeve 84, and theposts are disposed slidingly to contact flange portions 96 and 97,respectively, of vertical door frame member 98.

The preferred manner of adjusting the plates 77 and 78 to be engagedagainst the van cargo is identical to that set forth hereinabove for thefirst embodiment. It will be understood that the details shown in Fig. 4in connec tion with the drive shaft 15, locking disc 21 and door frameinner edge member 9 are duplicated in connection with the correspondingdrive shaft 89, looking disc 92 and door frame inner edge member 90 ofthe embodiment shown in .Fig. 6.

With light loads it has been found unnecessary to pro vide a greaternumber of toggle bars for the lower than for the upper portion of theplate. While heavying of bars 85 of the Fig. 6 construction may permituse with somewhat heavier loads, it is to be noted that the provision ofmore than one vertical threaded shaft for supporting the plate willgreatly increase resistance to twisting of :the plate to .one side. Thusthezprov sion of shaft;

22 and 39 and their toggle bars in the Fig. 1 construction results inincreased resistance to any forces tending to twist or rotate the plateabout a vertical axis into a position not parallel to the plane of thedoor.

While only certain preferred embodiments of this invenion have beenshown and described by way of illustration, many modifications willoccur to those skilled in the art and it is, therefore, desired that itbe understood that it is intended in the appended claims to cover allsuch modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of thisinvention.

What is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

1. In a cargo van, a door having a frame, an outer cover plate and aswinging edge, a horizontal shaft extending across said door androtatably mounted on said frame adjacently along and inside of saidouter plate, a plurality of vertical, externally threaded shaftsrotatably carried by said frame adjacently along and inside of saidouter plate, each said threaded shaft having a gear fixed thereon andsaid horizontal shaft having a respective gear fixed thereon operativelyengaged with said threaded shaft gear, said gears being operative torotate said vertical shafts in response to rotation of said horizontalshaft, means for rotating said horizontal shaft comprising a handleengageable with the shaft at said swinging edge of the door, at leastone internally threaded collar on each said vertical shaft, a movablevertical plate disposed inwardly of said shafts and frame, and meansconnected to each said collar for retaining said collar in predeterminedrotative alignment with the plane of said door and for supporting saidmovable plate in position adjustably spaced forwardly of said frame andshafts, said last means comprising at least one respective leg swingablyconnected at one of its ends to each said collar and each said leg beinghingedly connected at its other end to said plate, said legs beingmovable from positions substantially parallel to the plane of said doorwith said movable plate supported by said legs in a rearward position,to forwardly inclined positions in which said movable plate is supportedby the legs spacedly forward of the door in response to rotation of saidhorizontal shaft in a predetermined direction and said legs beingreturnable to said first mentioned positions in response to subsequentrotation of said horizontal shaft in the opposite direction thereby toreturn said plate to its said rearward position.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein a locking pininterconnects one of said shafts and said frame to prevent rotation ofsaid shafts, said pin being removable therefrom to release said shaftsfor rotation.

3. In a cargo van, a pair of rear closure doors having respective inneredge portions which swing together and meet at the center rear of thevan to close the body thereof, the inner edge portion of each said doorbeing provided with a respective rotatable hub element with a socketopening therein disposed toward said inner edge portion of the otherdoor when the doors are closed and each said socket opening beingexposed for ready access when either one of said doors is swung intoopen position, an operating handle removably engageable selectively inone and the other of said sockets when one of said doors is open, arespective plate for each said door, adjustable support means on eachdoor mounting said plate of the respective door interiorly of andparallel to the door, said support means comprising toggle bars andoperating means therefor connected between the door and plate, saidoperating means being operable to swing said bars and thereby toposition said plate in adjustable spaced relation interiorly of the doorand parallel to the plane thereof, and a respective operating connectionbetween each said hub element and said op! erating means of therespective door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

